Screenwriting : Conflict in all forms by Ken Zakreski

Self doubt, low self esteem, fear, baggage, mourning, mental state, lack of talent, lack of focus, dysfunctional attitude, illness, disability.

Suspense is withholding the discovery- making them wait- wonder- want to know more, guess- and hopefully be wrong.

Is that what you meant?

I don't think there are good substitutes for external conflict/obstacles in a film. It's a visual medium, so even if the source of the hero's conflict is internal you have to find an external way to represent it. Otherwise, you're better off writing a book where you can spend time inside the character's head.

Relationship conflict that stems from the characters themselves--the beliefs (about themselves and/or the world) and emotions that have to be dealt with before goals can be met. That conflict can cause subtexts that give the visuals an extra layer of meaning or that completely change the meaning of what viewers think they're seeing.

A lot of suspense can come when a character is faced with discovery and is conflicted about acting to discover what's there. Is she or isn't she going to take the big step?

As long as there is an understanding by the audience that the internal conflict exists it is a good way of building tension with an audience. The will she or won’t she question.

Internal conflict may be hard to use as a story engine. I could see external forces pressing against some internal conflict as a motivation, but not being the only force.

say we forget about internal conflict and change for the hero,.

James Bond, Jim Kirk, Josiah Bartlet the character does not arc or change (much). Or at least the character change is not the story or not used to create tension. The Hero stays the hero. Always stead fast, always true, always there, a true hero.

Now say there are two heroes, both in play for the love of a true hero woman. The tension is the heroes do not change, the events try to move them, they do not change.

no guns, no violence, no raised voices, none of that cheap trick shit. personal fortitude is the goal here.

what tension devices can be thrown at these heroes and still tell a great story? Is this the classic cowboy? is this roy rogers? should I be reviewing spaghetti westerns to find the answers here?

Ken is correct in that an arc is not necessary for all heros - from the Lone Ranger, 007, Captain Kirk and numerous others. However conflict is and it can be internal or external - I like to include both. I like to build a character map up front with a hero and at least three opponents with a web of conflict between each and every one of them. Watch Jaws or The Towering Inferno or a jillion others to see where every A, B, C... storyline plays these conflicts, from minor to major

Working on character development, then will do a map.

Two men heroes, One woman hero. No flaws, no tension, these heroes do not change.

Gotta do some movie watching. \

... This script we are doing, The Fictional Project, is a buddy comedy film really and the woman doesn't threaten the male male masculinity. Which goes against genre.

Comedy with the male bond not threatened by the woman. whoops...

What happens when you don't respect genre? Where should I be careful? What happens to the audience?

Sounds like you have a flat arc story. In that case, the hero who is in possession of the TRUTH is tested in his belief by the encroachment of the LIE. This provides conflict.

Also, the hero teaches or tries to teach said TRUTH to those around him/her who believe in the LIE. The believers in the lie will, therefore, undergo a character arc.

In general, TENSION (the promise of conflict) is used in the parts of a story where there's no external or internal conflict.

I hope this helps.

That helps and since the female hero discloses the truth soon after the lie is discovered tension is relieved and credibility as a true hero is maintained. Thank you. What about not respecting genre for a buddy comedy rom com?

I am going ahead with this off genre story with three strategies. 1. signal to the audience to expect the unexpected. 2. reduce dialogue, tension and conflict to allow the audience to get involved in the characters stories. 3. strong hook, adjust the genre away from rom com and more towards mystery.

how this will impact on the thematic vision is to be seen... outlines can only do so much.

what a complication, going back to the story on genre. themes work. Sticking with genre, life is just easier this way.

"How is using suspense different from discovery in providing tension for a screenplay?" You have a great question but I am not sure the question has been completely vetted out. Suspense precedes discovery. Maybe another question to consider is what comes before suspense?

Suspense is knowing there is a bomb under the table ahead of those sitting at the table.

Discovery is finding the clues that tell you where the neighborhood, the restaurant and finally the table is. Then once you arrive at the restaurant deciding or discussion on what to do. Knowing from clues stretches out the suspense even longer.

I’ll be a bit more personally revealing here as well. Bombs under tables, hiding Jews under floor boards, nuclear bombs smuggled into the capital? Really. This raising the stakes is getting too much for my crowd. We can’t even watch the news anymore without holding back the tears. I am gambling love, kindness, sharing, friendships tell a better story.

So really what I am asking, how do you recreate that tension when you first meet someone and the discussion is really probing question? Where are you from? What do you do ? And the answers bring the hope of a new found friend. The promise of a friend, can be greater then saving the capital from a bomb.

I think you have helped me answer my own questions. Change bomb to friend. Raising the stakes is when that friend is family. Finding a friend in your family is more powerful then a bomb under the table. Finding out they aren’t family but a possible lover, that is a bomb in the capital.

Thank you a Library of Books.

Ken

I get what you are saying because my franchise is romantic and there are no bombs in it. (In fact, there is only one instance of a gun in all six scripts.) However, there still has to be conflict in a story.

Probing questions are wonderful in novels because the author can describe the emotions surrounding those questions in ways that get the readers involved. But, in a film, probing questions--which can lead to long answers--are not visual. The challenge for the screenwriter is to have the characters show the emotions without fully speaking them.

Here's a hint: just as screenwriters are advised to mostly avoid on-the-nose dialogue, maybe we should also be advised to consider conflict that is not obvious (on-the-nose).

For example, let's say two characters continually argue about food. On the surface, it looks like their tastes are simply different, but as the story unfolds, the audience begins to realize that the battle over food is substituting for a different, deeper problem. The audience also begins to realize that, unless the characters confront the real issue, their relationship is doomed. That tension will hold the audience's interest.

The biggest fault of my scripts when I first wrote them was the lack of conflict in the stories. They were just made up of vignettes showing the development of the romances without sufficient tension. So, per professional feedback, I had to develop conflict that was organic (realistic) and not contrived. That took some doing.

Just remember, there are a kazillion ways to tell a story. The screenwriter's challenge is to tell it in the most concise and the most visual way possible.

Love it. My approach aligns with how you succeeded. Add only enough tension to make the story work.

When I was 42, I developed asthma. Laying in bed at night and not being able to breathe reminds one what really matters in a day. Turns out is was the Mediterranean diet that was killing me, my soft tissue expanded, shrinking my lungs, forcing me to reevaluate my lifestyle. Oral Allergy Syndrome is easily reversed by changing diets to one that is not killing you, in my case a Buddhist Diet saved my life, along with Iyengar Yoga.

Onions & Garlic had to go. Try that at my household; we often call it Ukrainian Penicillin.

But the lesson I learned was once you took out the strongest herb, the heaviest tastes, the other flavours rose to the tip of your tongue. The flavours that were masked, were now revealed and reveled.

I see a strong parallel here with tension, it hides other emotions and subtle flavours. Plus, I think I see all this, is chess, not poker, could be wrong.

Thanks a brood of chess players,

Ken

My approach to suspense and discovery in storytelling is a combination of both already built up in the main plot, they are concomitant. E.g., the protagonist is finding clues to narrow down a serial killer at the same time he/she is not aware the more clues he/she finds the closest the serial killer gets to he/she. In this case, what comes first "suspense or discovery" does not really matter if they story is retaining the audience's attention. Because of the suspense, there is discovery. The findings of the discovery brings more suspense. There is no point in moving a story forward if the audience already lost interest.

External conflicts can be shown to start with internal conflicts. The character who can't get out of her own way is one example. The tension is subtext in nature, and as others have stated, precedes the ultimate conflict, or even interim conflicts. I'm writing a story about perfectionism and its debilitating effects on character choices - very internal. The character's obstacles are the external conflicts he faces due to his choices.

These characters need enough depth to carry exposition. Those interesting characters should choose interesting courses of actions based on their personality.

Plot (or story) should not do all the tension building, characters should share that burden with internal conflict.

Tension and conflict stem from the characters and then the story.

I can make that work.

So that means excellent character development, I will deepen that well for sure. This is a good day, more writing ...

Character Development List

Surface Details

Personality Details

What do they want?

What is in their way?

How do they overcome?

Where does the story take place?

Ken

Trying to understand audience tension in a screenplay involving hitchhiking. During the setting of the screenplay hitchhiking was common.

The act of two young men climbing into a semi truck on the highway, would create tension in some audience members... conflict with those feelings could be used as conflict for a story. Yes? No?

In any regard the audience needs to be considered as the young men enter the semi truck. Perhaps don't actually show the act?

No and yes. Unless there is a direct connection with the main conflict of the story, don't use the hitchhiking as a conflict--audiences are smart enough to know hitchhiking was less dangerous in earlier times.

Don't actually show them entering the truck-- you could have the truck stop and one of them open the door, then change the scene heading to INT. Truck and take up a conversation that had already started when the two men entered the truck. Make the conversation directly involved in what the conflict is about (in other words, no small talk).

I agree. and Hitchhiking is not the main conflict.

My concern is to use the act of getting a ride where the audience reacts with "glad they got a ride", the joy of that, and not 'omg those two handsome young men just trapped themselves in a truck with a killer' .

Other more friendly vehicles can be used although none would be more informed about the road then the archetypal semi truck driver. and what a deep well there of character to draw on.

There is natural tension and conflict just waiting by the side of the road, hitchhiking.

Might not even show the hard part here, just the good part, riding and a vehicle and striking up conversation. This will provide less tension.

Dumpling’ is an interesting movie with not a lot of tension added. I was surprised this film could keep my attention yet the story was strong enough. Hope for my planned screenplay. Is it possible to succeed without so much added tension?

Our Town, another low tension conflict film. Slice of life but without the tension I will need to add interesting moments. Looking for these to gauge how little tension is required to keep the genre Mystery Rom Com and out of Child's Fairy Tale.

contrast. character development depends on contrast.

'' too much color, no color '' kandinski

I get that. Contrast. The most obvious contrast is the hero/villain relationship.

Looking at this outline I see no villain, only a challenge to find Neil Young and return the recordings. So in typical Canadian fashion the environment is the villain. I can work with that but,

Is there a case to be made to have a villain working against the hero for prevent the goal from getting accomplished?